Time to go active.

[bdawson72 5,000+ posts]

active scares me

 

[Tempe 10+ year member]

Don't be skurrd, dawg!

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Yeah that's why I did NOT buy that crossover. 3khz is pushing it if you go with small format tweeters. Here are some reviews and crossover point suggestions for this tweeter:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10458 (XT25)

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1484 (XT25 and XT19)

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7774 (XT19 boner thread)

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8053 (XT19)

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7256 (XT19 - extensive review halfway down page 1)

T

Awesome reviews and info. Thanks for posting these!

You can go a lot higher (8kHz) on the tweet HPF, just not on the mid LPF.

I found these limitations odd myself since there is the probability of a huge freq gap, but I guess I thought it wouldn't be a problem since the passxovers cross as low as 2200 Hz...

But what's the point of stopping at 3khz on the mid if the tweet can be crossed over as high as 8khz??? To me I see that as an idiotic design. The mid HPF should match the sub LPF range, and the tweet HPF should match the mid LPF range IMHO //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Usually you leave a gap or sometimes overlap, but the points should be relatively close to each other!

T

Yes, that is a pretty odd design for an active crossover. Again, my thoughts were that it'd work fine given the passxover cross points.

Dejawiz-With the the 2 way you are going to have some gaps in freq response. Try to get as much of the freq. range covered as you can and them still sound really good, the way you like them. Unless you have an RTA to know exactly where the gap is or have a great ear(some people do) it will be hard to know exactly where the gap is to fix it. With a good 3 way up front it opens up many more options. You can add mid later, so just get it sounding good the way you like it.
If I was guessing I would say alphakenny1 is pretty **** close in his numbers and might have nailed it for you. Don't know what to tell you about the x-over looks like you stuck kinda on that one with what you got available.

Yeah, the Coustic was cheap, so I couldn't complain... but if it's not going to yield any improvements over the passives, then I probably shouldn't bother.

Thanks for the recommendation for adding a mid later, but I think I'm about done spending money on this project (I'm surprised my wife hasn't kicked me in the nuts yet). The only mids I have are some Kicker SSMB6's sitting in the box, and I don't think they are going to be worthy of the effort needed to incorporate them to my soundstage.

active scares me

You think you're scared? Hehe - I log on this morning and there's a whole load of posts pretty much telling me the xover I just bought isn't going to do a **** bit of good with my SPX/Vifa XT soundstage. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Stupid xover design limitations... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/verymad.gif.3f39c5c2fd57527b671fad3efdfac756.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/*******.gif.a649d21efc0d1fd4890a6428166586c1.gif

(but what can I expect for $50)

Oh well, if it's the concensus with everyone that I need to reconsider using this active xover, please reaffirm.... I might be open to other 3-way/5-6 channel actives if the price is as low as they can come.

A HUGE thanks to everyone that has contributed.. you really helped me out a lot!

 

[genxx 10+ year member]

You can sell your crossover. You can pick up an ARC MX-3 pretty cheap 50-100.00 if you watch around for them. Maybe a PPI OMX-432 I think thats the right model number, saw them for around 75.00 or so. You got some options and could pretty much break even here. Might cost you an extra 25.00-50.00 or so to get you what you want. There are alot of options in the 75.00-100.00 range.

Just my random thoughts. Take them for what there worth.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Thanks genxx. I was hoping to find some units with the following criteria:

a.) 3 separate inputs and outputs (Front/Rear/Sub)

b.) Band Pass capable for Rear/Mid

I've found the following, but they aren't exactly the best (probably in the same league as the Coustic though)

- Profile RX30R

- Performance Teknique ICBM-7212 (looks to be almost the same as the Profile)

- AudioBling AX303P

And I did find one that might be of substantial quality:

- Memphis 16-X03

Anyone have any experience with any of those or care to comment?

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Ttt

 

[Tempe 10+ year member]

I don't know that specific Memphis unit, but I've had two used Memphis 16-CX35a crossovers. The first one the one channel went out completely. I got a second one used on fleabay. It worked great at first, but then the same exact channel died on me. Then it worked again. Now it works on and off. Being that it's used with no warranty, I gotta knock on it with my knuckles sometimes to get it to work. I don't plan on trying another Memphis crossover.

I need to get a new xover asap. If I stop being a cheepass I'd just get a new h/u with active processing haha.

So I typed this post up til the last paragraph at work and forgot about it for like 5 hours. I was gonna refresh to see if there were new replies, and I saw my incomplete post haha.

T

 

[bass_lover1 10+ year member]

Just to clear this up, the tweeter in the 177R set is actually a .75" tweeter, based off the Vifa XT19, the XT25 is the 1" tweeter.

Also, when running active for the tweeters, I'll take the Fs, double it, and thats a good idea of about how low you can run them till you run into issues, it's not set in stone but something to consider.

I run my LPGs at 2.5k hz but w/ a 24db slope so I can get away with going at 2khz which I've done, but didn't care for the sound, their Fs is 1800hz FYI.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Just to clear this up, the tweeter in the 177R set is actually a .75" tweeter, based off the Vifa XT19, the XT25 is the 1" tweeter.
Also, when running active for the tweeters, I'll take the Fs, double it, and thats a good idea of about how low you can run them till you run into issues, it's not set in stone but something to consider.

I run my LPGs at 2.5k hz but w/ a 24db slope so I can get away with going at 2khz which I've done, but didn't care for the sound, their Fs is 1800hz FYI.

From the SPX OM:

Speaker Size: 1" (28mm)

Effective Diaphram Diameter: 28mm

Voice Coil Diameter: 19mm

Fs: 950 Hz

Are you sure it's the XT19 and that it'll perform well at double the Fs at 1900 Hz?

 

[genxx 10+ year member]

There is a audio control 6xs on ebay. You might be able to get in on it at a resonable price then sell your coustic. The guy said he has alot of x-over modules and might be able set it up exactly the way you want for x-over freq.

Link below:

http://cgi.ebay.com/audiocontrol-6xs-crossover-white-in-box-with-extras_W0QQitemZ330109947068QQihZ014QQcategoryZ79840QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Brian

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Thanks genxx. Although I'm not sure I like the idea of having to buy separate xover modules just to tune it... would rather have a unit with dials. AudioControl makes nice products, but that xover is just not for me.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You don't have to buy modules. You can make them from resistors. Tells you how in the manual. Still a PITA but gives you pretty much a limitless range of adjustment. Just no adjustment on the fly. Gotta decide which is more important.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Oh so that's how it works... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Hmmm... might be do-able then. I could actually use my electronics degree!

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

to be honest, just jump on the 880prs wagon and call it a day. lol.

also again i can't emphasize how much experimentation is the most important part in going active. you'll hear about people playing so so speaker down to so so frequency in their car, their install. but if you take the same speaker and put it in your car, your install and play that speaker down to that frequency, it might sound like ***. so again hook it all up and start playing with frequencies.

 

[genxx 10+ year member]

X2. Alphakenny1 FTW.